Luc Gazdics thoughts on the Oilers implosion in game 1....
Tough to argue with any of this.Gazdic is right. To me the first thing that pops into my mind is a complete lack of leadership to have the mentality of not giving a shit after you’re up 4-1. Where was Knoblauch as well? Total no show from him, the guys with letters and the vets. McDrai era has been a bunch of pretenders
Do these guys need to be reminded that the dogface Tocchet had his top unit on the PP up 6-1 in the first game?
Tough to argue with any of this.
I want to see what happens in game 2 before going to far down the leadership rabbit hole but I do think that anyone who watched last nights game is totally justifyed for questioning the leadership on this team.
Its a narrative we have seen before as well.
Is this team and its leadership group mentally tough enough to win when it counts?
Its a good question.
So far in the playoffs, Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse have respectively played 18:13 and 18:02 minutes per game at even strength, while Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak have played 14:30 and 14:24 respectively. At this point, I’d even that up. Nurse, especially, has been struggling a bit, while Kulak has played excellent hockey. A bit more Kulak and a bit less Nurse for the time being would help the Oilers, no?
All due respect to those who think Ceci and Nurse have been getting the job done well in the 2024 playoffs, I’m not seeing it. By my eyes, and by my count of the mistakes they’ve made on Grade A shots against, the two Oilers have been struggling somewhat, especially Nurse, leaking too many Grade A shots against.